On Saturday, August 12, businesses in the strip mall at the intersection of South Puget Drive and Benson Road South were closed for several hours. One business, The Brewmaster's Taproom, was the target of a bomb threat, according Renton Police.
"I'm sorry that you weren't exposed to what real love looks," said owner Marley Rall of whoever is responsible for the bomb threat. "You weren't exposed to the thrill of learning new things and being challenged, being educated."
The emailed threat, which is full of profanities, laid out why the the bomb threat was being sent: the business puts on a drag queen story time once a month. An event for August 12 was cancelled and rescheduled for later in the month.
Drag events faced significant protests over the last year, according to the most recent report from GLAAD, a nonprofit organization focused on LGBTQ advocacy and cultural change.
"You calling and threatening is not going to stop us from doing what we need to do so our next generations of humans don't act like you," Rall said.
The bomb threat, while unsettling, isn't surprising to Rall. In December, someone shot a BB gun at her business, cracking the window. Instead of getting the crack fixed, she put up a sign next to it saying "what intolerance looks like."
"The person that chose to shoot at our business did nothing but people see what it looks like when everyone is supporting each other. Eight months later, I'm still saying thank you for allowing these children to see your unfortunate bigotry and not being educated has allowed them to see every month we can still love people who aren't exactly like us," Rall said.
In KING 5's prior interview with Rall, she explained her reasoning for being an ally to and standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community has to do with her religious upbringing and where she lived growing up.
"We have family we lost in the Holocaust and for us a big thing, especially because we didn't have a big Jewish community in Hawaii was, oftentimes, you have to rely on others to stand there with you when you don't have enough of your own," Rall said in that prior interview.
Renton Police tell KING 5 they are investigating the bomb threat.